California pastor dies after fight with flesh-eating bacteria

SACRAMENTO – Friends, family and parishioners are mourning the loss of a Sacramento-area pastor who died Tuesday after a battle with necrotizing fasciitis – commonly referred to as "flesh-eating bacteria."

Fox 40 reports Linda Snyder contracted the flesh-eating disease in January after the bacteria invaded a wound she had, possible an abscess.

"She developed lots of complications as a result of the bacteria and surgeries to contain the bacteria," Snyder's daughter Karen told Fox 40. " Her lungs were really scarred and she had lots of lung issues and pneumonia almost nonstop."

Snyder had served as the pastor of Sacramento's United Methodist Church for a decade, and had ministered to hundreds in the Methodist community. Karen says her mother was her best friend.

"She was a woman of faith and that gave her the strength and passion to live her life," she told Fox 40.